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Diversity and inclusion

Multicultural

Committed to building a multicultural workforce

At Barclays we are committed to building a culture where everyone feels included. Our vision is to be inclusive of colleagues and customers of every race, ethnicity, nationality and faith to improve opportunities and representation and reinforce our stance of zero tolerance on racism.

Read more in Barclays Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report:

In today’s global environment it is vital that organisations operate with greater cultural understanding. Our colleagues across our global footprint make up a rich kaleidoscope of nationalities, culture and heritage. Their unique perspectives are invaluable in ensuring we understand what matters to our customers and clients around the world, and help ensure we can provide specialist products and services to meet their needs.

We are committed to supporting all our colleagues, regardless of religion, ethnicity, nationality or race. The Multicultural Agenda strategically engages to increase the opportunity to attract world-class colleagues and the diversity of thought-leadership, judgement and innovation required to compete in the changing international landscape and to sustain business success.

 

We recognise that some ethnicities are underrepresented relative to the potential talent pools available and over the past two years, a key focus of the Multicultural agenda has been around Race at Work. In 2021 we introduced Race at Work Ambitions to set out measurable outcomes to help us assess the progress we are making to close these representation gaps, especially at senior levels, allowing us to see the impact our actions are having over time.

Taalib Shaah

Group Chief Risk Officer

Race at Work

In October 2020 we launched our Race at Work initiative. Conceived by colleagues, and forging a bond that goes beyond the workplace, our racial equity agenda is a reminder of the power of the collective – and of our colleagues’ ability to drive real change. 

Race at work - Hispanic woman looking to camera

The UK’s Race at Work Charter

Barclays were one of the first signatories of Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter, and we have voluntarily disclosed our Ethnicity Pay Gap since 2018.

The Charter comprises five principal calls to action for leaders and organisations across all sectors. The five actions are:

  • Having an executive sponsor for race
  • Capturing ethnicity data and publicising progress
  • Committing, at Board level, to zero tolerance of harassment and bullying
  • Making it clear that supporting equality in the workplace is the responsibility of all leaders and managers
  • Taking action to support ethnic minority career progression.

We delivered on these commitments by implementing the following:

  • We have appointed an Executive Committee Member, C.S. Venkatakrishnan, as executive sponsor for our Multicultural agenda
  • We continue to voluntarily disclose our UK-wide ethnicity pay gaps
  • The Barclays Way, our code of conduct, is clear that we will not tolerate discrimination, bullying or harassment
  • We make it clear that all of our leaders have a shared responsibility to build a diverse and inclusive culture
  • We implemented a 12-point action plan on Race at Work that will open up opportunities to attract, develop and add to our great Black talent globally.

Open letter outlining commitments to achieve greater diversity & inclusion

Leaders of corporate legal departments in the financial services industry have come together to denounce discrimination, in whatever form, and express their support for those who have suffered as a result. We have published an open letter to the global legal community committing to measures that we believe will promote greater diversity and inclusion among racially and ethnically diverse professionals in our legal departments, legal supply chains and in the legal profession more broadly.

Read the full letter

Multicultural employee resource groups

Dedicated to championing Barclays' ambition to be the bank of choice for multiculturalism, ensuring that we value, respect and maximize the diversity of all colleagues of all ethnicities, faiths, backgrounds and geographies. We have a number ethnicity employee resource groups.

Our stories